Powerlessness in the power sector

The govt has offered a 30 per cent discount to power defaulters if they clear their dues by July

The government, desperate in its attempt to collect some of the amount pending vis-a-vis electricity bills, has decided to offer a 30 per cent discount to power defaulters if they clear their dues by July. Additionally, the discount offer will lessen to 25 per cent by August and see a similar slash if dues aren’t cleared by September. If dues still haven’t been cleared by then, the cases of defaulters will be referred to the National Accountability Bureau. This desperate measure is a result of the private sector — mainly huge industrial units — owing Rs342.7 billion in power dues of which, according to a summary sent by the water and power ministry, only Rs181.8 billion are recoverable. The low number that the government thinks it can collect is a shame in itself. It should also be noted that the discount to power defaulters is being offered on the amount that the government thinks is recoverable and not the full amount that is owed to it, showing its levels of desperation.

With a toothless power sector, rife with outages, and transmission and distribution losses, power theft is an added issue. Even if the authorities are able to identify defaulters, they are happy in bending over backwards and offering them a discount in the hope of collecting at least some money. It has also proposed a five per cent reward for officials at power distribution companies who ‘help’ recover dues, giving the impression that this is not the reason why they receive their salaries in the first place. Ostensibly, helping their employer recover money that is legitimately owed to it is an ‘added’ job which must be rewarded. For all law-abiding citizens who clear their power dues in time, this is nothing less than an absurdity. For all the honesty and diligence of citizens, the government, in response, does little to give them any incentive or reward and continues, at times, to overcharge them to compensate for those who don’t pay at all. It is clear that huge industrial units have better bargaining power in this equation while honest citizens continue to face power outages even in this searing heat.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 22^nd,  2015.

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